Canyon football cleans it up

It took a little time for Canyon to shake off last week’s devastating loss to Valencia.

But it ultimately prevailed.

After a sluggish start, the Cowboys rallied from behind and defeated the West Ranch Wildcats 28-6 Friday at Valencia High.

In response to last week’s bitter loss to the Vikings, Canyon (7-2 overall, 3-1 Foothill) fell behind 6-0 with 2:14 to play in the first half, but scored 28 unanswered points to bounce back and spoil senior night for the Wildcats.

“We’re like adversity magnets,” said Canyon quarterback Cade Apsay. “We came out flat, but I’m proud of how we turned it around and stepped it up in the second half.”

Apsay tossed three touchdowns in the second half, including two to Zach Cuha from 30 and 25 yards out, respectively.

The senior signal-caller’s final scoring pass went for 5 yards to Alec Abbinanti and set the final score with 10:08 left to play.

Apsay completed passes to seven different receivers and finished 20-of-29 for 238 yards and one interception.

He also had three separate streaks of five consecutive completions.

“He’s phenomenal,” said Canyon head coach Rich Gutierrez. “He’s untouchable. He plays lights out every week. I couldn’t be more blessed to have a young man like that lead this team, not just one side of the ball, but the (entire) team.”

Cuha finished with eight grabs for 113 yards. He leads the Cowboys with nine touchdown receptions so far this season.

Minutes before halftime, West Ranch (5-4, 1-3) took a 6-0 lead as Zachary Heinz connected with JK Torres for a 5-yard touchdown on a successful fake field goal. The score was set up by quarterback Chase Killingsworth, who put the Wildcats in the red zone with a 30-yard scamper.

However, the Cowboys responded on their next play from scrimmage by way of a 44-yard burst up the middle by running back Myron McAfee to give Canyon a 7-6 lead heading into halftime.

On Friday Canyon will close out Foothill League play with a home game against Hart, while West Ranch’s finale will be a matchup against Saugus at College of the Canyons.